d with liquor, and loaded with booty, now madly set fire to
several of the buildings, which soon added the dangers of conflagration
to the other horrors of the scene. In a short time, the town would have
been reduced to ashes, and the place which Philip had won at so much
cost would have been lost to him by the excesses of his own soldiers.

The king had now entered the city in person. He had never been present
at the storming of a place, and the dreadful spectacle which he
witnessed touched his heart. Measures were instantly taken to extinguish
the flames, and orders were issued that no one, under pain of death,
should offer any violence to the old and infirm, to the women and
children, to the ministers of religion, to religious edifices, or, above
all, to the relics of the blessed St. Quentin. Several hundred of the
poor people, it is said, presented themselves before Philip, and claimed
his protection. By his command they were conducted, under a strong
escort, to a place of safety.[225]

It was not possible, however, to prevent the pillage of the town. It
would have been as easy to snatch the carcass from the tiger that was
rending it. The pillage of a place taken by storm was regarded as the
perquisite of the soldier, on which he counted as regularly as on his
pay. Those who distinguished themselves most, in this ruthless work,
were the German mercenaries. Their brutal rapacity filled even their
confederates with indignation. The latter seem to have been particularly
disgusted with the unscrupulous manner in which the _schwarzreiters_
appropriated not only their own share of the plunder, but that of both
English and Spaniards.[226]

[Sidenote: SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS.]

Thus fell the ancient town of St. Quentin, after a defence which
reflects equal honor on the courage of the garrison, and on the conduct
of their commander. With its fortifications wretchedly out of repair,
its supplies of arms altogether inadequate, the number of its garrison
at no time exceeding a thousand, it still held out for near a month
against a powerful army, fighting under the eyes of its sovereign, and
led by one of the best captains of Europe.[227]

Philip, having taken measures to restore the fortifications of St.
Quentin, placed it under the protection of a Spanish garrison, and
marched against the neighboring town of Catelet. It was a strong place,
but its defenders, unlike their valiant countrymen at St. Quentin, after
a brief